BY FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Softball will host a pair of MIAA doubleheaders this weekend in Hays, taking on Central Missouri Friday at 2 pm before facing Lincoln on Saturday at 12 pm. The pair of doubleheaders will be the first four games of conference play this season for FHSU. The Tigers enter the weekend with a record of 13-9, while Central Missouri is 7-4 and Lincoln is 6-6.
Fort Hays State played both Central Missouri and Lincoln on the road last season. The Tigers swept a pair of games from Lincoln in Jefferson City, but fell in both contests against Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
The Tigers have been stuck in a trend of .500 play over the past two weeks. FHSU went 2-2 in its second trip to the Edmond/Oklahoma City area before going 3-3 last week in Topeka. FHSU played just one doubleheader so far this year, which resulted in a sweep of Kansas Wesleyan on February 18 in Hays.
Michaelanne Nelson continues her strong work in the pitching circle after posting a 0.00 ERA last week in 22.2 innings pitched at the Washburn Invitational. By throwing three consecutive complete game shutouts in her starts, she earned MIAA Softball Pitcher of the Week. Nelson leads the pitching staff with a 1.71 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 69.2 innings pitched. She currently ranks second in the MIAA in ERA and opponent batting average, while ranking third in strikeouts. Teammate Hailey Chapman is also among the top strikeout pitchers in the MIAA, ranking fifth with 61.
At the plate, Kristen Reed leads FHSU in RBIs (22), extra-base hits (8), and slugging percentage (.485), while Terran Caldwell leads in batting average (.368) and runs scored (13). At least three Tigers have three stolen bases on the year, led by Hannah Gates with five. Alexis Velazquez and Elise Capra have each hit three home runs on the year. Velazquez is the only Tiger other than Reed with at least 10 RBIs this year, going into the weekend with 15.